Feeding Time

In the morning, everyone must eat! 

George loves to "help" feed the goats. I'm sure they are mostly just annoyed with him playing in every tiny bit of their food before they get to eat it. 

George is feeding a few extra handfuls to Poppy who is always eager for any "extras"!

Backyard Areas, How we make it all fit

I have no idea how I have been blogging about our backyard adventures for several years and didnt have a single overall picture to share! So here it is! The summer heat took its toll on our attempt at grass growing, but we will reseed in the fall and hopefully get a full lush lawn by next year!

We have our yard divided into 4 sections. The garden area which is also where the bee houses reside, the chicken and compost area, the goat area and then the yard and play area. 

You will have to click on the pictures and make them larger so you can see the labels. 

In the far back corner of the yard we have the chicken coop and hen area. It is connected to the compost area so they can constantly be turning and working the compost pile. When we put all the hay from the goat area back there, those girls will work for days getting every last bug, weed, and seed out. They also get any and all food and garden scraps as well as a generous (thanks to Addie) supply of veggies, bugs, worms, and feed. This area is also right next to the garden so we open up and connect the two areas during the winter so the chickens can get out any and all weeds and bugs. Occasionally we do let the chickens and goat all out of their areas (under supervision) for a "walk about" through the yard and garden. The goats sure can tear out some weeds in the garden real quick and the chickens have at the bugs! But if they arent watched closely every single tomato will be gone quite quickly! In between the chicken and goat houses is the garage. The goat house is small and low to the ground (since they are little mini goats). The goats have quite a bit of space and in the middle of their run is the milking barn. This is where all the feed, hay, and any animal supplies are stored. 

 Here you can see the playset which is almost always in use! The path leads to the garden which is also where the beehives are located. We want them close to the garden for easy pollination but also it provides a protective fence so no kids stumble upon them and get too curious. 

 And when the camera is out of course I have to take a few pictures of these little cuties!

 And these two crazy and overly energetic cuties!

I would like to add that our animals do have more attention and interaction than most others. There is almost always someone in our backyard playing or working and we are playing, feeding or grooming them constantly. The animals are not continually restricted to confined areas. They are regularly patrolling the entire area finding snacks or playing. We have found it is safer for the animals and for our children and their friends if everyone has their own separate area to retreat to and feel safe when things get a little crazy. And when we have people over we have found it to be nice and necessary for the kids to be able to play and the goat & chickens to go off to a safe and comfortable are to eat or sleep undisturbed. 

There you have it! That is how we make it all fit!! 

Peach and her babies

We have been ridiculously busy around here!! It has been crazy but so fun!!

Although we have been busy and scrambling all over the place, these precious little goats just love to relax...

and snuggle...

and sleep!

That is, when they aren't too busy eating!!

Video Nigerian Dwarf Goat Kids Playing

Does it get any cuter than this!? I set up these logs for the little ones to play on and they sure do love it! They are only 2 weeks old and just full of energy! I love the sound of their little hoofs on the logs and the walkway.  

Goat Playset...just a few logs!

 King of the mountain...or in this case its Queen of the Log!

She prevails!

As the boys fight it out she remains on the highest log...She eventually laid down to take a nap cause no one was challenging her. 

 Stickin her tongue out at the camera!

Just a little bit of goat fun!

I adore these little baby goats! I could sit outside and watch them play all day! Well, actually I couldnt because they sleep alot of the time. But then every once in a while they take off through the yard and play for a while!!

They are so curious!

They sneak through the fence to come play in the yard and then scurry back through when they want a little milk or rest!

Peaches had her babies!!! 1 Doeling and 1 Buckling April 17, 2012

 I seriously dont think there is a more precious goat than my little Peachy Peach. I just love how sweet and affectionate she is...as well as being a fabulous milker and excellent mommy!

Last tuesday Peach was acting mighty uncomfortable and I knew she was quickly approaching the birth of her babies. I talk to our breeder who told me that is she is showing all the signs of labor then I could go ahead and give her "Magic Goat formula" (1 part molasses, 1 part oil, 2 parts corn syrup)...the sugar gives a boost to the system as well as the added energy to go into labor. After giving her the formula it was only a few hours and she was hunkered down in the barn ready to deliver her babies. 

Now let me add here how drastically different Peaches and Poppy are during birth...Poppy sure wants everyone and I mean everyone in the world to know that she is in pain and about to give birth. Then there is Peach, just so extremely quiet! She only cried out a few times and that was in the moments she was pushing out the babies. I sat with her just about all weekend to make sure I was there to help her if there were any complications. After the events of last year I didnt want her to be all alone and end up loosing one of her babies. So finally the moment was here...as were some of our friends who were intensely excited to see their first goat birth!!

 Peach did great!! The first baby to come out was a little white and black female with blue eyes! This baby was by no means small!! I was so shocked at how big she was and within a few seconds that tiny little baby was up walking around...seconds!! She is so extremely strong! She was heading for milk from mommy before Peach even had a chance to push out baby #2! Within 5 minutes her second baby was here and it was a precious little tri-colored blue eyed male!

 I have never seen such a precious bond between an animal and her babies! Peach just LOVES these 2 little goats! And Ill be honest, I just about cried too! Shes had her babies almost a week and hasnt let them out of her sight! Whereas Poppy makes an escape and hides every chance she can get...but she also has 4 babies runnin after her for milk and Peach only has the 2. 

My friend Rebecca took the above birthing pictures and she did a FABULOUS job! She took some amazing/shocking but VERY impressive pictures of the actual birth...I wont post those on the blog though ;)

Here they are!!!! This picture was taken the morning after they were born...just SO soft and adorable!

This little buckling was sold immediately! A family snatched him up right away to be there startup herds service buck. 

 He has absolutely beautiful coloration and just a precious temperament...like his mamma!

 Then there is this gorgeous doeling!! She is so wonderful! I love her coloration and her cute pink nose...not to mention she has blue eyes and is polled (no horns and will never grow horns). 

I couldnt be happier for my little Peachy Peach!

Poppy had her babies!!!! Cuteness ALERT!! 3 Bucklings and 2 Doelings April 14, 2012

It has been quite an eventful weekend here! Poppy was due on Friday and Peaches was due on Saturday. We have been on high alert since last week to make sure everyone has everything they need prior to the goat babies arrival! Saturday morning Poppy started showing signs of labor (extremely affectionate, very uncomfortable, not eating very much, and I'll spare you the details that were taking place "down there"). She is getting closer and closer...as is the tornado! Yes, we were under a tornado watch from a tornado that was coming up through Oklahoma...and we do not have a basement! We prepared an area in the garage for Poppy and her babies and a separate area for Peaches and her babies (should they come that night as well). Finally, Poppy went into active labor and WOW is she loud! She sure doesn't mess around though...when its baby time she hunkers down and pops out the babies! Might I also add that she is a VERY fertile little lady! She had 5...I repeat FIVE babies! However, one baby did not make it...it was quite sad, but there is much joy from the 4 that are still here with us. 

Oh they are too cute! Poppy was doing great but one little baby was still kind of struggling (little Dot Dot). She wasn't jumping up like the others and was so small that she wasn't getting in for the milk and for Poppy's attention. We started getting the kids loaded up to head over to some friends basement and kept running back out to bring Dot Dot back over to Poppy. Well, we had to go and couldn't wait any longer. After we all got safe and sound in the basement and the threat of tornado was still a little ways off, Bryan ran back home (barely a few blocks away) to do one final check of the babies, and Dot Dot was standing up and was over with the rest of the babies...now back to shelter just in time. The tornado came disturbingly close...a little over a mile from our house. I've heard reports that it was up to 1 mile wide when it came through our area.

Once the threat of tornado was gone, we came on out of the basement and headed home...finding a rescue crew barricading off the road down the street due to tornado damage as well as an insane amount of rain rushing down the streets. Getting back home we found all 4 babies safe and sound snuggled up with their momma. By this point I thought for sure Peach would be having her babies soon...but not yet...she took her jolly time and held those babies in a few days more (that story will be posted next!)

Let me introduce you to Poppy's 4 babies...

Here are her two little blue Eyed Bucklings...

Then we have this precious little tri-colored doeling!

And last...but Definitely not least...we have this little blue eyed adorably precious doeling. My kids have named her "Dot Dot" and she is oh so tiny.

Ah Peachy Peach

"Ah Peachy Peach"...this is what we say to her quite often! This precious little goat just melts my heart. Peaches is just so quiet and loving and she sure was loving getting her pictures taken!

Both of our girls are just about to have their babies! Poppy is due this Friday and Peaches is due on Sunday!! Woo hoo we will have baby goats running around before we know it! Not to mention the goat milk that will soon follow!

My Precious Little City Goats!

These two girls are so delightful! Poppy is very strong willed and "opinionated" while Peaches is just a precious and loving little lady who doesn't really get too worked up about anything. 

Poppy is always on patrol through the yard to have her say in the way things are done - 

 - Peaches is hanging out on the back porch. This is one of their favorite places to hang out!

Yep, here she is again examining things. Im mean really, doesnt she just look like she is about to tell someone off!! 

 - While Peaches hangs out in the goat barn safe and sounds. 

Welcome to the back 40...feet

Welcome to "the back 40" (as we call it)...I wish it were the back 40 acres, but its just the back 40 feet! Bryan built a cute picket fence and walkway in front of the garden to help section off the garden and bees from the rest of the yard. 

We have planted 1 bed of beans that is doing fabulous and are getting ready to plant several more beds of beans as a fall crop. I love the various beans we have coming up. We planted a variety of colors so when the kids go exploring for beans they get to find yellow, purple and striped beans instead of just regular green beans...although they are tremendously fun to find as well!

Once the busy time of goat milking is done in the morning our backyard quickly becomes a very peaceful place to relax! The bee hives are tucked into the corner of the garden bringing thousands of pollinators quickly into our garden as well as a growth of fresh honey :) You can sit back and hear the peaceful hummmm of the workers comes from their hives. Then glance to the other side of the yard and see Peaches and Poppy relaxing  after their morning milking. They love spending the cool breezy morning relaxing beside their bin of alfalfa while the chickens peck around the yard finding little "protein treats" (bugs)! Its quite a peaceful time of day! I fully enjoy the relaxation of watching my "backyard work for me". The garden is growing, the bees are buzzing around pollinating and storing up honey, the goats are "replenishing their milk supply", the chickens are laying eggs and being a fabulous bug pest control, and the chickens and goats are turning the compost pile as well as "producing compost" to enrich the soil! 

 It has been a tremendous amount of work to get our backyard to this level of productivity...but we have no intention of stopping here!! We are continually trying to find new ideas to put our little plot of land to work!

The front 3 beds are now empty after harvesting the leafy greens (arugula, lettuce, and spinach) and peas. We prepped those beds to plant more bush beans and here soon we will plant our fall crop of beans in those beds. 

Then we have 1 row of tomatoes, 1 bed  of beans, and 2 beds of tomatoes. 

Last year we planted a very wide variety of vegetables, all for the purpose of finding out what we like to grow and like to eat. Then after realizing there are some things we are terrible at growing we decided to limit our variety and use the "barter system". We can grow beans and tomatoes well and it is easy to trade those veggies with people who grow other vegetables well. Then of course we had to plant a few herbs for fresh garden herbs. We also have 1 row of quite a few different varieties of peppers and I am anxious to experiment with new recipes!

Taste the Rainbow!! Our tomatoes are taking off!! We planted a variety of colors and sizes and have already harvested a dozen pounds of tomatoes...that doesn't even count what Addie and Henry have eaten while standing out in the garden "harvesting".

We have 2 beds of tomatoes...its our "wall of tomatoes". I can not wait for these fresh balls of delightful flavor to flow out of the garden!! I have alot of canning I want to do as well as sun drying! We sundried several dozen pounds of tomatoes last year (which only ends up being a few pounds of dried tomatoes) and they were extremely fun to savor during the winter months! Sundried tomatoes are fabulous to toss into a winter pasta or salad...I plan to make much more this year!! 

 

I used t-posts and cotton string to make my wall of tomatoes and so far it has done quite well. Now that the tomatoes are growing and branching out I can see that the weight of the tomatoes might be a little heavy for the thin cotton string I selected. I tied up some extra rounds of string to make sure the wall wont collapse under the weight and pressure from the plants. Last year I used some vinyl twine that held up really well but I Wanted to go with a string that would be compostable and I sure hope the walls don't collapse with the stretching of this cotton string! This method easily contains the tomatoes and helps these 8 foot tall plants have somewhere to go as they grow taller and taller. Last year we had tomato plants well over 10 foot tall by the end of the season. 

I hope everyone's gardening adventures are going well!! I would love to hear about your garden, animals and harvest!